Former Google Chief to Chair Government AI Advisory Group

Eric Schmidt speaks at a press conference ahead of the Google DeepMind Challenge Match in Seoul, South Korea, in 2016. LEE JIN-MAN/AP

Federal leaders on Jan. 18 announced the 15 tech experts who will serve on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

The commission, created by the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), will advise government on the national security implications of artificial intelligence and how to maintain U.S. dominance in the tech’s increasingly competitive market. The group is eligible for up to $10 million in funding through fiscal 2020.

Former Alphabet Chief Executive Eric Schmidt will head the group, and former Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work will serve as vice chairman. This won’t be Schmidt’s first foray in advisory jobs—he already leads the Defense Innovation Board, which the Pentagon consults on a variety of tech issues.

Commissioners were appointed by the secretaries of Defense and Commerce, as well as the top Republicans and Democrats on congressional armed services, commerce and intelligence committees. Other members include:

Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services

Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle

Chris Darby, CEO of In-Q-Tel

Jason Matheny, former IARPA director

Eric Horvitz, director of Microsoft Research Labs

Mignon Clyburn, Open Society Foundation fellow and former FCC commissioner

Andrew Moore, head of Google Cloud AI

Steve Chien, supervisor of the AI Group at Caltech’s Jet Propulsion Lab

Ken Ford, CEO of the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition

Jose-Marie Griffiths, president of Dakota State University

Gilman Louie, partner at Alsop Louie Partners

William Mark, director of SRI’s Information and Computing Sciences Division

Katharina McFarland, consultant at Cypress International

The commission is required by law to review the state of artificial intelligence in the U.S. and draft multiple reports on how the government could advance the technology. Among the group’s areas of interest are research funding, workforce reskilling and AI ethics.

Per the NDAA, the commission is supposed to have its first report published by early February.

“Artificial intelligence will have an enormous impact on our future economic and military competitiveness,” Work said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Eric Schmidt and the other distinguished commissioners on how best to exploit this rapidly improving technology for the betterment of our citizens, economy and security.”